A special thanks to Alfonso Ostos for capturing some of the photos for this review
Earlier this year, I was fortunate to receive a Farer Aquamatic for review. Despite having had Farer on my radar since about 2019, I’d never seen one ‘in the flesh.’ If you’ve read that review, you’ll know that I was impressed by their efforts, and since then, I’ve been hoping to get another model for review. When I reached out to my buddy James at Farer, he suggested I review their other dive watch, the Aquacompressor. Having enjoyed my previous experience with the brand so much, I jumped at the offer.
Compressor Style
The Aquacompressor, as the name might suggest, is a dive watch in the compressor style. For those of you who don’t know what that means, a compressor watch is a style of diving watch developed in the 1960s to increase the case’s water resistance. They work by allowing the increase in water pressure (at depth) to squash the case together, tightening its seals. While more modern materials and manufacturing techniques have surpassed this watchmaking style, the compressor-style watch is making a comeback. The signature feature of this style of watch is the inner rotating timing ring. The elapsed-time ring on a traditional dive watch can be found on an outer rotating bezel, but the compressor-style carries its timing rings inside the case. The necessity of a second crown to rotate this inner ring gives rise to their distinct twin-crown layout.
The Aquacompressor seems to sit pretty high up in their lineup for Farer. The line has been around for a few years, with this model being a second-generation version of their Endeavour colorway. That means an inky black dial with a matching timing ring and silver hands. The dial is tastefully simple, with two lines of text above and below the pinion and a printed logo just below the large, applied twelve marker. The rest of the indices comprise fairly traditional circular markers with rectangular ones at the three, six, and nine positions. Without a date display, the dial is nicely balanced too.
Farer Endeavour Specs | |
Case Width 41mm | Lug-to-Lug 45mm |
Case Thickness 12.5mm | Lug Width 20mm |
Water Resistance 300m | Strap Rubber Strap |
Crystal Sapphire | Lume Super-LumiNova X1 |
Movement Sellita SW200-1 Elaboré | Price $1,190 |
Dial Details
The outer ring features simple white printing with more prominent minute marks up to 20 minutes and smaller markers for the rest. Perhaps the most impressive feature of this outer ring is that it is fully lumed, meaning that time can also be easily tracked at night. Overall, Lume is exceptional with the hour markers and hands packed with it. The hands and markers take on a greenish tint in everything other than direct light. The only area where the lume could be thicker is the applied twelve and the timing ring, which appears dimmer than the rest of the dial. The hands consist of two fencepost-style hands for the hours and minutes with a simple seconds hand topped with the Farer ‘A’ logo, which is nicely lumed.
While the dial is fantastic, the standout of the show for me was the case itself. Hewn from grade-II Titanium, the Aquacompressor case has to be one of the most comfortable I have ever tried. The Titanium makes it very lightweight, which helps the watch almost disappear when not being looked at. Rather than the more traditional shape with pronounced lugs at either end, the Farer case takes on a distinct tonneau shape, bringing the lug-to-lug distance down to a manageable 45mm. What sets this case above others is how it appears to curve from one end to the other. The crystal meets the case in an almost seamless transition, helping to keep that curve going across the entire top of the watch.
Around the crystal is a thin bezel, which blends subtly into the rest of the top of the case. Both the bezel and the top of the case feature a fine brushed finish with circular brushing on the former and radial on the latter. The sides of the case have a highly polished finish, which is a first for me with Titanium. The rear of the case features a screw down display caseback through which you can see the Sellita SW200-1 Elaboré grade movement. The movement and the inner bezel are controlled by a pair of crowns on the right side of the case. These must be the most excellent, tactile crowns I’ve ever used.
Both feature a conical shape with a sharply defined cog-like texture, lending them fantastic grip. What with this being Farer, both crowns are capped with a bronze logo on top of the classic super compressor-style crosshatching. The top crown is used to hack and set the movement while the other manipulates the timing bezel. Both screw down to achieve an impressive 300 meters of water resistance. Finally, the case and integrated rubber strap fit hand in hand, with Farer hitting it out of the park again in the strap department. With the Endeavour II colorway, you get a black, textured strap featuring plenty of holes and matching Titanium hardware. It is soft, comfy, and, thanks to the wave pattern on the back, never once becomes too sweaty.
On the Wrist (Diving)
Wearing the Aquacompressor has been incredible, and it has been a steady diving companion for the last month or so. When I first received it, we had a tropical cyclone inbound, which made for some exciting moments, with the bright lume coming in as particularly helpful. On the wrist, it tends to disappear into the background until you need it to check the time or set the bezel, making it ideal both on a bust dive boat and in general daily life. With everything under the crystal, it wears a little bigger across its diameter than the 41mm dimension would suggest. With that said, however, the legibility is fantastic.
Regarding the super compressor design, I must admit that the inner rotating bezel is not as practical as a more traditional outer bezel, but timing is an absolute breeze. What struck me most when I first put it on was how smoothly the various elements of the case came together. As I said to a friend who happened to be admiring the Endeavour as I wore it, the design makes me think of Apple products with their flowing lines and modern appearance. In short, Farer has outdone themselves again without the traditional use of color for which they are so well known. This makes Endeavour II an outlier in their catalog and something they can be incredibly proud of.
The super-compressor style is making a comeback, and I think Farer deserves a spot at the top of that list. By adding some thoroughly modern design cues to this very retro style, they’ve created something apart from any other modern super-compressor while maintaining a level of consistency that anyone who has held a Farer watch will immediately pick up on. I am looking forward to seeing where they go next!
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Brilliant photos, great review
Hi!
I would have greatly appreciated it if you could have indicated what color SuperLuminova is: C3, BGW9, etc. This is also important since C1 color has a brightness 70% lower than C3 (see the “rctritec” table). The X1 indication you give refers to quality. There are three grades: Standard, A and X1. X1 increases the performance of these pigments by around 60%. So if we have a C3 color SL, with X1 its brightness will be increased by around 60%. But a C1 color increased by 60% is still not as long-lasting as a C3-X1. The X1 quality gives therefore no indication of luminosity, only that the one used lasts the longest. I’m sure you know better. It would be nice if you could also indicate the SL color of this watch (which will tell us the brightness). Thank you very much.
Farer doesn’t indicate which specific color they are using, however, it is likely C3 as it is white and glows green.